Door manufacturer expands Bamberg County plant

A Florida door manufacturer plans to move its operations to a facility in Bamberg County.

Masonite Corporation announced Thursday that it plans to invest $14 million to expand its operations in the town of Denmark, hiring more than 150 additional workers.

“Investing in our Denmark facility made sense on so many levels, beginning with the great local workforce,” said Glen Coulter, Executive Vice President of Global Operations & Supply Chain. “It’s also conveniently located near several major Interstates, near major customers, and our Company’s Yulee, Fla. door fabrication plant.”

The company first arrived in Denmark last October with its acquisition of the existing Lifetime Doors plant. At the time, the company said it wanted to grow the plant’s capacity “dramatically.” Lifetime had been in Denmark since 1947. It had 40 employees at the time of its purchase. While Masonite closed other Lifetime plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas and California, it kept the Denmark facility open.

Masonite has been manufacturing interior doors for more than 80 years. It emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009. It currently sells more than 50 million doors per year.

Denmark Technical College is developing a curriculum to train current and future employees at the plant, through the state’s readySC workforce training program.

“This is a major announcement for Denmark,” said Bobby Hitt, the director of South Carolina’s Department of Commerce. Bamberg County’s unemployment levels are well above the state average at 14.2 percent.